Seaside Fregola Salad

Staying cool in the summer heat☀️

Italians really don’t like to cook in the summer. When the summer starts, so do the lighter and easier-to-prepare meals. Cooking and sweating away in the hot kitchen is no fun especially when you can be outside. If you have any outdoor space to cook or eat, a patio, balcony, or a garden, the grill is lit and a table is set for dinner; ready for a night of food and long conversation with friends and family in the heat of summer.

The ultimate place to be at this time of year is at the seaside or in the mountains. All the better when you’ve made a meal that can be served at room temperature or out of the fridge. Numerous chefs of IG fame love to set up makeshift kitchens on the sand and cook away.

For this dreamy summer recipe, I’m using a pasta from Sardinia called Fregola Sarda. Sardinia is an Italian island located off the western coast of Italy, just to the south of Corsica. It has over 1000 miles of coastline and a very mountainous interior. The unique cuisine of the island includes fregola, a small, round pasta, similar to Israeli couscous, that is sold dried and toasted, giving it a slightly nutty flavor. It is becoming much more popular here in the US and much easier to find in your local market..

There are many ways to prepare this unique pasta. For this recipe, I have paired it with eggplant, yellow peppers, zucchini, and peas for a delicious chilled summer salad. You can really go wild with the basic approach that I have used here. Substitute any of your favorite vegetables for a perfect in-season meal. Keep with the theme and stay cool by making it ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For another recipe idea using fregola, my sister, Michele, visited Sardinia a while back and posted a delicious traditional fregola recipe: Sardinian Fregola with Clams, another perfect summertime meal.

CLICK the button below for the recipe:

or head on over to OurItalianTable.com! And let us know if you do make it!